In hot pursuit of cold

Nova explores the history and efforts of pioneers on the frigid frontier.

January 8, 2008|By Dave Shiflett Bloomberg News

In light of last week's wintry interlude, it's a perfect time for Nova: Absolute Zero, a fascinating two-part PBS series on the upside of extreme cold.

Down at the very bottom of the thermometer - where temperatures dip to about minus-460 degrees Fahrenheit - light slows to "bicycle speed" while liquids defy gravity and flow upward. Numbsville to be sure, yet ultra-cold environments may yield benefits every bit as important as the harnessing of heat.

"The Conquest of Cold," which airs tonight, begins with a re- creation of the first known stab at air conditioning. Cornelius Drebbel, an alchemist and magician for King James I who is credited with inventing the submarine, told the boss he could turn summer into winter, at least in the Great Hall at Westminster.

His AC unit was likely composed of vessels filled with salted ice and a human-powered fan. The king, portrayed here as a beefy fellow familiar with breaking a royal sweat, was duly impressed. Yet air conditioning would not be developed for three centuries, and then not on behalf of sweating humanity.

The series, based on Tom Shachtman's book Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold, features interviews with Nobel laureates Eric Cornell, Carl Wieman and Wolfgang Ketterle, all pioneers on the frigid frontier.

There's long been gold in cold, as we see in a segment on New England's 19th century ice industry, which employed tens of thousands of workers and served markets as far away as China.

Although an ice ship lost about 20 percent of its cargo over the course of a voyage, profits were still high. The industry also shrank the world. Henry David Thoreau observed that ice taken from Walden Pond might end up in the cup of an "East Indian philosopher."

Refrigeration put steaks on plates across America, much to the benefit of meat-packing cities such as Chicago. Flash-freezing, created by Clarence Birdseye in the early 20th century, was another great step in food preservation, leading to the invention of the TV dinner.

People need cooling too, even though air conditioning was initially devised to chill inanimate objects.

In July 1902, the show says, a fan maker named Willis Carrier was called to the Brooklyn offices of Judge magazine, where the humidity was so high ink wouldn't dry on the pages.

Carrier's solution: Blow air across cooled coils, which decreased the humidity and dropped the temperature. The July issue was saved and air conditioning was on its way; benefits included allowing buildings to rise above 20 stories, where high winds make open windows impractical.

"The Race for Absolute Zero," which airs next week, picks up the story later in the 20th century as scientists pursued absolute zero (minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit), described as "the Holy Grail of cold."

This mind-bending stuff has practical applications, including "quantum computers" unhindered by heat and boasting vastly expanded capabilities. The show concludes that while harnessing heat has played a key role in human development, the "future may lie in continuing the conquest of cold."